Properties of radio-frequency heated argon confined uranium plasmas

An experimental investigation was performed to aid in determining the characteristics of uranium plasma core reactors. Pure uranium hexafluoride (UF6) was injected into an argon-confined, steady-state, rf-heated plasma, within a fused-silica peripheral wall test chamber. Exploratory tests conducted using an 80 kW rf facility and different test chamber flow configurations permitted selection of the configuration demonstrating the best confinement characteristics and minimum uranium compound wall coating. The test chamber selected was 10-cm-long and 5.7-cm-inside diameter; operating pressures were up to 12 atm. A UF6 handling and feeder system to provide a controlled and steady flow of heated UF6 at temperatures up to 5000K and mass flow rates up to 0.21 g/s was employed